The 45 Commandments of Jesus Christ in the Gospels

In Catholicism by Claudio

I first received this via a handout from my local parish. The pastor would often comment on the fact that so many Catholics don’t know that Jesus gave commandments. They know about the ten commandments handed down to Moses, but they tend to think of Jesus’ teachings as “suggestions”. He would then reiterate that they are not suggestions. Moses gave 10. Jesus gave 45. He raised the bar. I’ve tweaked the text slightly, replaced the Bible passages with external links to the translation that I prefer (The New American) versus the original handout which referenced the King James translation. I have also included a few of my own additional notes (identified with “Additional note by Claudio”). But let’s first review the 10 commandments.

Ten Commandments

  1. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
  2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
  3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
  4. Honor your father and your mother.
  5. You shall not kill.
  6. You shall not commit adultery.
  7. You shall not steal.
  8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

The 45 Commandments of Jesus Christ in the Gospels

  1. Repent: (Mt 4:17)
  2. Rejoice: (Mt 5:12)
  3. Let your light shine before others but give glory to God:  (Mt 5:16)
  4. Settle matters quickly with your adversary: (Mt 5:25)
  5. Get rid of whatever causes you to sin: (Mt 5:29-30). (Additional notes by Claudio: A better interpretation of this in today’s language would be along the lines of “No sacrifice is too great to avoid total destruction in Gehenna.” Note that Gehenna is a topic unto itself but note that the King James Version of the Bible improperly translates it as the word “hell” which is not the case and can lead to confusion and debate. For more on Gehanna, this Wikipedia article provides a decent description).
  6. Keep your word and let your words match what’s in your heart: (Mt 5:34-37). (Additional note by Claudio: I once thought that the word “swear” in this passage referred to profanity but that’s not the case (which is good because I’d be screwed 😉 ). It refers to taking an oath. Jesus demands of his disciples a truthfulness that makes oaths unnecessary. It’s explained here).
  7. Practice nonviolent resistance: (Mt 5:38-39). More on this is explained here. (Additional note by Claudio: in those times, Roman soldiers would not slap a Jewish person with the palm of their hand. That would be considered demeaning to the Roman. They would only backhand a Jewish person. Some can interpret that when Jesus said “turn the other one to him as well”, he’s saying offer nonviolent resistance but don’t let them demean you either. Make a statement. I’d like to think that Gandhi interpreted it this way. This might be up for a healthy debate, but I wanted to put it out there.)
  8. Giving more than is demanded: (Mt 5:40-42)
  9. Love your enemies: (Mt 5: 43-45)
  10. Be perfect and merciful (the gospel of Mathew uses the word “perfect” whereas Luke uses the word “merciful”, so I’m combining them): (Mt 5:48). (Lk 6:36) (Additional note by Claudio: my personal opinion is that the commandment is to strive for perfection as opposed to an expectation that we should be perfect).
  11. Give to please God, pray to please God and fast to please God; not to be seen: (Mt 6:1)
  12. This then is how you should pray: This refers to the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father, which I won’t spell out.
  13. Do not store up treasures on earth: (Mt 6:19-21)
  14. Do not worry about your needs: (Mt 6:25-26)
  15. Place God first: (Mt 6:33)
  16. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself: (Mt 6:34)
  17. Do not judge: (Mt 7:1-2)
  18. Guard what is sacred: (Mt 7:6)
  19. Ask, seek, and knock: (Mt 7:7)
  20. Do to others whatever you would have them do to you: (Mt 7:12)
  21. Choose the narrow gate, not the wide one: (Mt 7:13-14)
  22. Beware of false prophets: (Mt 7:15)
  23. Exercise spiritual power without expecting anything in return: (Mt 10:8)
  24. Be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves: (Mt: 10:16)
  25. Come to me all who labour and are overburdened: (Mt 11:29)
  26. Honour your parents: (Mt 15:4)
  27. Do not despise childlike believers: (Mt 18:10)
  28. Lead by being a servant: (Mt 20:26-27)
  29. Love the Lord and love your neighbour: (Mt 22:37-39)
  30. Do not exalt yourself: (Mt 23:8-12)
  31. Care for those in distress: (Mt 25:34-36)
  32. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey Jesus’s commandments: (Mt 28:19-20)
  33. Do not oppose other Christian groups: (Mk 9:38-40)
  34. Have complete faith in God: (Mk 11:22-214)
  35. Forgive: (Mk 11:25-26)
  36. Be merciful: (Lk 6:36)
  37. Take up your cross: (Lk 9:23)
  38. Do as the good samaritan did: (Lk 10:37)
  39. You must be ready for the second coming: (Lk 12:40)
  40. Do this in remembrance of me: (Lk 22:19-20)
  41. You must be born again: (Jn 3:7)
  42. You should also wash one another’s feet: (Jn 13:14)
  43. Keep my commandments: (Jn 14:15)
  44. Remain in me and I will remain in you: (Jn 15:4)
  45. Love one another as I have loved you: (Jn 15:12)